# Novel Counteract Agents To Reduce Mortality And Morbidity Following Organophosphate Status Epilepticus

> **NIH NIH U01** · VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $619,905

## Abstract

The goal of this project is to demonstrate that lead CounterAct compounds atenolol (AT) and levetiracetam
(LV) given after organophosphate (OP) pesticide and nerve agent induced status epilepticus (SE) are a safe
and effective treatment to reduce OP SE mortality and morbidity, including behavioral abnormalities, cognitive
impairment, acquired epilepsy (AE) and mossy fiber sprouting. SE is a major medical emergency seen with
exposure to OPs from chemical threats from terrorist attacks or from exposure by accident or natural disasters.
Advances have been made to treat the seizures associated with SE and the cholinergic crisis from OP
exposure, but at present there are no therapies available to prevent mortality and the long term morbidities
associated with OP SE. Our research has made a major advance in understanding how OP SE causes
mortality. Our PR indicate that cardiac irritability in the first 7 days after OP SE is the major cause of mortality
and this can be reduced by treatment with AT and LV. We made a breakthrough in our preliminary results (PR)
indicating that AT plus LV may reduce mortality by greater than 70% and also significantly reduce morbidity by
greater than 50%, including behavioral abnormalities, cognitive impairments and the development of AE. This
PR also suggests that AT and LV can reduce cardiac irritability and cardiac and neuronal damage after OP SE.
This study will use the OP pesticide paraoxon (POX), the OP nerve agent surrogate diisopropyl-
fluorophosphate (DFP) and the nerve agent sarin to induce SE in rats. Our laboratory is ideally suited to
conduct these studies and has developed the necessary skills to carry out the following specific aims: Aim 1:
Determine whether AT and LV can reduce mortality following POX induced SE and conduct pharmacokinetic
and pharmacodynamic analyses for CounterACT lead compounds AT and LV when administered intra-
muscularly and orally. Aim 2: Determine whether AT and LV can reduce mortality following DFP and sarin
induced SE and evaluate the acute and chronic effects of intramuscular injections on injection site
musculature. Aim 3: Evaluate whether AT and LV can reduce cardiac irritability and cardiac pathological
changes following POX, DFP and sarin SE. Aim 4: Determine whether AT plus LV can reduce the
development of depression-like symptoms and provide neuroprotection following POX, DFP and sarin SE. Aim
5. Evaluate whether AT plus LV can reduce the development of cognitive impairment, the development of AE
and mossy fiber sprouting following POX, DFP and sarin SE. The PR demonstrate the feasibility of these
studies and underscore the potential significance of conducting this research. AT and LV have been used for
many years clinically to treat hypertension and seizures, respectively, and thus their use in humans has been
well established. If these preliminary findings are documented in this study, we will conduct a pre-IND meeting
with the FDA for ultimately getting an IND for the use...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10213853
- **Project number:** 5U01NS105058-05
- **Recipient organization:** VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Laxmikant S Deshpande
- **Activity code:** U01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $619,905
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-07-01 → 2024-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10213853

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10213853, Novel Counteract Agents To Reduce Mortality And Morbidity Following Organophosphate Status Epilepticus (5U01NS105058-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10213853. Licensed CC0.

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